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SAN FRANCISCO – J.A. Happ didn’t sully his good pitching name with one bad night, or two, or three. He did it with the sheer force of repetition – failing behind in counts, getting into a defensive mode, piling up high pitch counts and low out totals, start after start.

Happ didn’t restore his good name on Friday night at AT&T Park. He’ll have to do that through the sheer force of repetition, too. Though Happ took yet another loss in his return to the major leagues, he regained some of the sense of his old pitching self in a 2-1 defeat against the San Francisco Giants.

Turning in his first quality start since June 3, Happ allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits in six innings before a crowd of 41,438. The one blight – besides the Astros’ inability to muster up much support on offense – was a two-run double by former Astro Jeff Keppinger in the fifth inning. Lefthander Madison Bumgarner (8-12) and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, dooming Happ (4-15) to regaining sole possession of the National League lead in losses.

“I got the loss, but I’m trying go be done with the negatives,” Happ said. “And I think there are a lot of positives to take out of this game. If I throw the ball like that, more often than not I’ll get the win.”

Happ had allowed five or more runs a team-record eight consecutive starts when the Astros sent him down to Class AAA Oklahoma City. He went 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three starts in the minors, spending that time working on the mental and mechanical side of pitching.

“Happ got in a rhythm and a groove and was throwing the ball with confidence,” Astros manager Brad Mills said. “To see him continue to pound the strike zone and to work like he did – find that rhythm, work quickly, keep everybody on their toes and make good pitches – what a great job. That was an outstanding outing.”

In the first inning, Happ worked through a two-out double by Carlos Beltran. In the second inning, Happ worked through a leadoff single by Brandon Belt and two-out walks by catcher Chris Stewart and Bumgarner. That’s the kind of inning that got out of hand to often during Happ’s 4-14, 6.26-ERA start that put him in the minor leagues, but he retired Orlando Cabrera on a weak grounder to end the threat.

Happ sailed through the third and fourth innings and had a promising start to the fifth when the first batter, Stewart, hit a grounder to short. Clint Barmes misplayed the ball for an error, and a sacrifice and a walk put runners on first and second with one out. Keppinger fouled off four two-strike pitches before lining a two-run double to left-center.

“He’s tough,” Happ said. “He battles and he’s got a good eye. I think maybe he’d seen enough to get around on it, and he did. I’d to things differently if I could go back, but that’s the way this game is.”

The Astros got Bumgarner out of the game in the seventh, but it wasn’t the clean knockout they need. After Matt Downs got hit by a pitch and Jose Altuve singled, a wild pickoff throw to second by Stewart gave the Astros runners on second and third with nobody out.

A ground out by Barmes drove in one run, and single by Humberto Quintero sent Altuve to third. Reliever Ramon Ramirez struck pinch-hitter Brian Bogusevic on a 3-2 pitch and got Jordan Schafer to bounce into a fielder’s choice to preserve the 2-1 lead.

“We need to capitalize on that stuff when it happens,” Barmes said. “It’s pretty frustrating when Happ throws the way he did, and we’re not doing the things defensively behind him. That’s probably more frustrating than anything. He threw extremely well. The ball takes off, I don’t make a play, and this is the big leagues. We’ve seen that all year: A lot of teams are going to take advantage of those mistakes.”

The Astros didn’t manage a base runner against Ramirez in the eighth or Santiago Casilla in the ninth, making the night a gain and a loss for Happ. After the Giants scored the two runs in the fifth, Happ out the next inning and set them down on six pitches.

“Part of that is mindset,” Happ said. “Before, I would have been frustrated or whatnot. I felt like we were still in the game. I was positive. I still felt strong.”